Lucien said nothing.
That was what frightened Liora.
He was always saying something.
A warning.
A correction.
A dry remark.
A command.
Even when he didn’t want to answer, he usually found some way to avoid the question.
But now— nothing.
Liora stared at him.
“You know.”
Lucien’s expression remained unreadable.
“I know that you experienced a vision.”
“That’s not what I mean.”
She took a step closer.
“You knew something like this was possible.”
He didn’t deny it.
Liora’s heart sank.
“How long?”
“Liora—”
“How long have you known there was something strange about me?”
Lucien looked away.
“Not long enough.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“I know.”
She folded her arms.
“You keep doing that.”
“Doing what?”
“Giving me half an answer and expecting me to be satisfied.”
“I don’t expect that.”
“Then tell me the rest.”
Lucien was silent.
Liora looked at him for several seconds.
Then she noticed the book on the floor.
She picked it up.
“Who is she?”
“I don’t know.”
“The woman.”
“I don’t know.”
“You’ve seen the symbol before.”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
Lucien hesitated.
“In the royal archives.”
Liora’s fingers tightened around the book.
“What does it mean?”
“I don’t know everything it means.”
“Everything?”
Lucien closed his eyes briefly.
“I’ve been trying to understand it.”
Liora stared at him.
“And you never thought to tell me?”
“I didn’t know whether telling you would put you in danger.”
She laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“That’s your excuse?”
“It’s not an excuse.”
“It sounds like one.”
“Liora.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“You don’t get to decide what I should know.”
The words hung between them.
Lucien looked at her.
For a moment, she saw something in his eyes.
Regret.
“I know.”
Liora swallowed.
She hadn’t expected him to agree.
That somehow made it worse.
“I don’t want everyone deciding things for me.”
“I understand.”
“Do you?”
“More than you think.”
She looked down.
The pendant rested against her chest.
She touched it gently.
“The woman gave this to the baby.”
Lucien’s eyes followed the movement. This story is hosted at g.com.
“Are you certain?”
“Yes.”
“Did she say anything?”
Liora closed her eyes, trying to remember.
There had been shouting.
Fear.
A door.
The woman’s trembling hands.
Then—
“She said something like…”
Liora frowned.
“She told someone to take the baby.”
Lucien stiffened.
“Take her where?”
“I don’t know.”
She opened her eyes.
“But it didn’t feel like she was giving her away.”
Lucien said nothing.
“It felt like she was trying to protect her.”
That was the part Liora couldn’t explain.
The woman in the vision had been terrified.
But she had never looked at the baby with fear.
Only love.
Liora touched the pendant again.
“She loved me.”
Lucien’s expression softened.
“Yes.”
Liora looked at him sharply.
“You don’t know that.”
“No.”
He paused.
“But I think you’re right.”
That night, Liora couldn’t stop thinking about the vision.
She sat by her bedroom window with the pendant in her hands.
Who was the woman?
Who was the man?
Who were they running from?
And why had the woman trusted someone else with her child?
The questions kept circling in her mind.
Then she remembered something else.
The room.
There had been a woman in the background.
Not the mother.
Someone wearing a simple dark dress.
Liora had barely noticed her during the vision.
But now— she remembered.
The woman had been holding out her arms.
Waiting for the baby.
Liora frowned.
“Who were you?”
Far away, beneath the cover of darkness, someone else remembered that night too.
A woman stood in an old abandoned house.
She was older now.
Her hair had turned silver at the temples.
In her hands was a faded piece of cloth.
She unfolded it carefully.
A tiny embroidered symbol was stitched into one corner.
The Elaris mark.
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I promised I would keep her safe.”
She looked toward the window.
“For years, I wondered if I had failed.”
She folded the cloth again.
“But she’s alive.”
A faint smile appeared.
“And now she’s waking.”
The following morning, Liora returned to work.
She expected Lucien to behave awkwardly.
He didn’t.
He was exactly the same.
Cold.
Composed.
Demanding.
Annoyingly calm.
She found him in the dining room.
“I am eating.”
“Three bites don’t count.”
“I’ve eaten more than three.”
“How many?”
He paused.
“Seven.”
Liora stared.
“You counted?”
“No.”
“You absolutely counted.”
Lucien looked back at his plate.
“Perhaps.”
She smiled despite herself.
The tension between them hadn’t disappeared.
But neither had the strange comfort of their routine.
She placed another piece of bread on his plate.
“Eat.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Liora froze.
Lucien’s mouth twitched.
“Did you just make fun of me?”
“No.”
“You did.”
“I would never.”
She narrowed her eyes.
He actually smiled.
Liora pointed at him.
“There.”
“What?”
“You smiled.”
“I didn’t.”
“You did.”
“I was simply acknowledging your order.”
“With a smile?”
“Perhaps.”
Liora laughed.
For a moment, everything felt normal again.
But neither of them forgot their conversation.
That afternoon, a royal messenger arrived.
He bowed before Lucien and handed him a sealed letter.
Lucien read it once.
Then again.
His expression hardened.
Liora noticed immediately.
“What now?”
“The Council.”
“Again?”
“They’ve called an emergency meeting.”
“Why?”
Lucien folded the letter.
“They’ve discovered that someone has been accessing old records concerning the Elaris.”
Liora frowned.
“The Elaris?”
“Yes.”
She remembered the symbol from the book.
“Is that bad?”
“It could be.”
“Why?”
Lucien looked toward the window.
“The Elaris disappeared generations ago. If someone is suddenly searching their records, there may be a reason.”
Liora was quiet.
“Do you think it’s connected to what happened to me?”
Lucien looked at her.
He wanted to say no.
He couldn’t.
“I don’t know.”
And that was the truth.
He didn’t know who Liora was.
He didn’t know why the Elaris symbol appeared around her.
He didn’t know why she could see things no ordinary person could see.
But he was beginning to suspect that the answers were connected.
“Then what happens now?” Liora asked.
Lucien’s expression hardened.
“I find out what the Council knows.”
Liora nodded.
She didn’t notice the way his hand tightened around the letter.
Because for the first time, Lucien was no longer simply investigating an ancient mystery.
He was beginning to fear that whatever the Council uncovered might eventually lead them to her.
And neither of them yet understood why.